# In your city, can you tell where an address is without ever having been there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-city-can-you-tell-where-an-address-is-without-ever-having-been-there/487176 "2009-02-24T08:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-city-can-you-tell-where-an-address-is-without-ever-having-been-there/487176/81 "2009-02-27T17:03:42Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Are you under the impression that that’s unique to Europe, amanset? Kenilworth looks downright _mathematical_ compared to [the town I grew up in.](http://www.mattressexpresslkn.com/image/32091875.gif) The city I live in now, that I described in the OP, seems to be the exception here in the US - - not the rule. No, but it is the most common scenario everywhere in the UK. Even the famous new town [Milton Keynes](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=milton+keynes&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=52.505328,68.115234&ie=UTF8&ll=52.031268,-0.727673&spn=0.160952,0.266075&z=12) only has a grid system as used in so many US cities in the very centre. What I am saying is that few, if any, places in the UK - and probably all of Europe - are laid out in a way that a logical system could be found for it. I was just using the place where I grew up as an example. ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-city-can-you-tell-where-an-address-is-without-ever-having-been-there/487176/82 "2009-02-28T03:55:48Z")
Yes, but mainly that’s because a) it’s a small county, and b) I have personally readdressed or confirmed almost every address in the towns and county. (It’s cheating because I’m a mapper by profession.) ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-city-can-you-tell-where-an-address-is-without-ever-having-been-there/487176/83 "2009-02-28T14:39:31Z")
Does anyone know San Diego? There are a few series of streets there. The trees makes sense: they are in alphabetical order. But the state series doesn’t make any sense. It’s not alphabetical, geographical, or any other kind of ical. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-city-can-you-tell-where-an-address-is-without-ever-having-been-there/487176/84 "2009-03-01T03:08:19Z")
> [@seodoa](#): > > Houses are in _some_ pattern, but it varies from block to block, so I’d have to get there first before I could tell you exactly. The blocks aren’t too big, though, so it’s never much trouble once you get there. I have been told many times by many Japanese that the houses are numbered in the order in which they were built, regardless of location. Now that I think about it, not sure what that implies about when houses are destroyed - by earthquake, fire, or war. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-city-can-you-tell-where-an-address-is-without-ever-having-been-there/487176.md?page=4)